Lester S. Willson

Lester Sebastion Willson
Lester Sebastion Willson, c. 1898
Birth name	Lester Sebastion Willson
Born	(1839-06-16)June 16, 1839 Canton, New York
Died	January 26, 1919(1919-01-26) (aged 79) Bozeman, Montana
Buried	Sunset Hills Cemetery, Bozeman, Montana (45°40′31.93″N 111°01′35.38″W / 45.6755361°N 111.0264944°W / 45.6755361; -111.0264944Coordinates: 45°40′31.93″N 111°01′35.38″W / 45.6755361°N 111.0264944°W / 45.6755361; -111.0264944)
Service/branch	U.S. Army Volunteers
Years of service	1861-1865
Rank	Brevet Brigadier General
Unit	60th New York Volunteers
Battles/wars	Battle of Atlanta
Relations	Emma D. Weeks (Wife) Fred Fielding Willson (Son)
Other work	Montana Merchant and State Legislator

Brevet Brigadier General Lester Sebastion Willson, (June 16, 1839 – January 26, 1919), was a U.S. Civil War officer in the Union Army, Assistant Quartermaster General of New York, and a Montana merchant and politician in Bozeman, Montana. He was married at Albany, New York, on March 2, 1869, to Miss Emma D. Weeks, a native of Vermont. He died in Bozeman, Montana on January 26, 1919.

Lester Willson was born in Canton, New York on June 16, 1839, the son of Ambrose and Julia Willson. He was one of seven children and had at least two brothers, Davis and George. His brother Davis would play a prominent role in Lester's later career as a businessman in Montana. He attended public schools in Canton and graduated from a prominent Academy before working as a clerk for two years and then volunteering for the Union Army in 1861.

Willson enlisted in Company A, Sixtieth New York Volunteers, August, 1861, was enrolled second sergeant September 9, 1861, a lieutenant October 3, 1862, first lieutenant and adjutant November 17, 1862. He was offered a captaincy on the same day the adjutant's commission was received, but declined. He was made captain August 2, 1864, lieutenant-colonel October 1, 1864 and colonel May 17, 1865. Willson left the regiment July 17, 1865 as a colonel. On March 12, 1867, he was brevetted brigadier-general of volunteers "for gallant and meritorious services under General Sherman, resulting in the fall of Atlanta, Georgia."

During the winter of 1861-62, Willson participated in guarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and campaigns in Virginia under generals Nathaniel Banks and John Pope. He fought at the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862. On May 5, 1863, he was severely wounded at the Battle of Chancellorsville Virginia. He did not return to duty until September 1863 under General Joseph Hooker when the XI and XII Corps of the Army of the Potomac moved westward to reinforce the Army of the Cumberland around Chattanooga, Tennessee. There Willson participated in the battles of Wauhatchie, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Peavine Creek, and Ringgold Gap.